Nazareth heavyweight heads to Hershey with a 33-1 record.

Aaron Bradley's conversations with college coaches often distill to one point.

"They all tell me I will spend a lot of time studying in the cafeteria," he said.

At 242 pounds, the Nazareth senior won't be the biggest heavyweight at the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament, which begins Thursday in Hershey. He does expect, however, to be among the best.

Bradley (33-1) won the PIAA 3A Northeast regional title Saturday, defeating formerly unbeaten Brad Emerick 3-2 in the final. Emerick, a senior from Coughlin, was the defending regional champ who entered the tournament having pinned every opponent he wrestled this season.

Since he gave up 30 pounds to Emerick, the Nazareth senior altered his strategy to steer from trouble.

Bradley then scored the decisive takedown in the third period to clinch the victory.

Bradley has grown used to wrestling bigger opponents, even having great success against them. His coach attributed that to Bradley's skill rather than his size.

"It's kind of like, the rules of wrestling hold for everybody until heavyweight," Nazareth coach Dave Crowell said. "That's not true for Aaron. He's a wrestler in every sense of the word."

Still, Bradley intends to get bigger, which is vital for wrestling at heavyweight in college. Bradley said he wants to be a "very big heavyweight" next year, adding that he has made his coaches an offer: Take a picture with him after states, and then one after his college career ends, and note the difference in his size.

"They all laughed at that," he said.

Bradley, who placed second at 220 pounds last year, has taken official visits to Lehigh and Penn State. After states he plans to visit California Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo, where former Liberty wrestler Devon Lotito just won the Pac-12 title at 133 pounds.

Bradley opens the state tournament against Franklin Regional's Luke Fleck. His half of the bracket also includes Kiski Area's Shane Kuhn, the unbeaten Southwest regional champ.

He should be prepared for the competition. Bradley's lone loss this season was a 2-1 decision against Blair Academy's Brooks Black, the nation's second-ranked heavyweight (Bradley is sixth).

"That definitely got me ready for guys like Emerick and guys I'm going to see in Hershey," Bradley said.

EXPANDING HIS HORIZONS: Joey Fogle of Pocono Mt. East finished fourth at regionals last year, falling to the same opponent twice. He left the tournament feeling young and unprepared, two traits he had no intention of returning with this year.

Fogle, a senior, qualified for his first state tournament by winning the 170-pound regional title. He and teammate Ray Nicosia (152) will represent the Cardinals in Hershey.

In addition to training with Nicosia, who coach Chris Potter considers a state-title contender, Fogle worked out occasionally at Bethlehem Catholic and Blair Academy. He said both opportunities stretched his wrestling range.

"Becahi has a ton of great kids in their room and a great style of practice, so you get the best of both worlds," Fogle said. "Grab a partner who's going to push you, and you get drilled hard and get a good practice.

"I knew I wasn't prepared [last year]. I didn't practice hard enough, so this year I knew what I had to do."

EXCEEDING HIS GOALS: Emmaus freshman Cole Franklin hoped merely to qualify for regionals in his first season. After using his favorite move Saturday night, he was headed to states.

"I'm ecstatic," Franklin said. "There's no feeling in the world like going to states. It's every wrestler's dream."

Franklin (30-11) placed third at 138 pounds, pinning Nazareth's Sage Karam in the consolation final with a cement job, which he learned at Jack Cuvo's club. Whenever he feels an opponent's in the right position, Franklin goes for the move.

"I knew I wouldn't get another chance until next year, so I had to make it work," he said.

Franklin is Emmaus' first state qualifier since 2009, something he didn't expect so soon. He began the season 7-5 but lost only three more regular-season bouts.

In the regional quarterfinals Franklin defeated Easton's Kyle Baker, to whom he lost three times this season. Franklin also won elimination bouts at districts and regionals, both by fall.

"I just kept fixing one thing at a time, and before I knew it, I was up there with the good kids," he said.

NOTEWORTHY: Easton senior Evan DiSora might face the toughest road to a state title. To win the 160-pound weight class, DiSora potentially would have to defeat nationally ranked Zack Zavatsky of Greater Latrobe (12th), Chance Marsteller of Kennard Dale (first) and Garrett Peppelman of Central Dauphin (fifth). Both Marsteller and Peppelman are returning state champs.

Liberty senior Grimaldi Gonzalez (120) won his 100th career bout en route to claiming his second regional title. Gonzalez, who placed third at 120 last year, has a difficult opening match. He'll face Canon-McMillan's Dalton Marci, who placed fourth at 113 last year.